Tuesday. Sunny and still cool. Trash and recycling are at the curb.
Today is Straighten Up The Office Day followed by an hour with the crafters at the library.
I am reading Crystal Soldier for the first time in 20 years and I am glued to the page. Good Ghod, what a great story! The characters are awesome! The world building is great and so far, at about the halfway point, I have no complaints at all.
I was thinking that I would skip the Crystal books, because so very many people have disliked them. Not nearly as many people as disliked the Fey Duology, and not approaching the level of vitriol, but still — a lot of people really, really disliked these books, and they were not shy of saying so.
I go on record now as saying the critics are wrong.
Firefly is being keeping very close, and is taking every opportunity to climb on my lap to purr and knead and head butt. Her tail is back to normal, and I?
Need to go find breakfast.
How’s everybody doing today?
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A Brief History of the Fey Duology
Back in the early 2000s, Steve and I were writing Liaden books for Meisha Merlin and having a pretty good time, except that our paychecks were getting more irregular than we liked. We talked to our agent, who shared the Industry Wisdom that most writers did not put all of their eggs into one literary basket, but branched out, starting one, or even two, other series, under a (or several) pen names. They key was not to compete with yourself, because the intention of the secondary line was to smooth out the cashflow, not to supplant the primary work.
So, we brainstormed, we three, and we came up with an idea that was Nothing At All like Liad (saving a Regency-like setting for the human settlers), a Deeply Dark SF-grounded Fantasy which would be marketed under a pseudonym.
It was a good plan, and it might even have worked.
Except Other Events Overtook Meisha Merlin, and we were not only out of a job, but we were out a $ignificant amount of Back Royalties Owed. The sequel to The Tomorrow Log was a victim of this cataclysm. Fledgling-on-the-web was a benefit. Sharon re-entered the mundane world and took up the melant’i of departmental secretary at the local Little Ivy.
For a Period of Time, we didn’t know if we would retain our rights in the Liaden Universe, or if they would become part of the assets of Meisha Merlin sold to satisfy its creditors.
Our agent therefore had one thing in hand to try to sell for us, so that our cats wouldn’t have to go live under a bridge — the proposal for two dark “fantasies.”
And — all honor to her — she sold them. To Baen. Under the condition that they be published under the Lee and Miller byline.
Money talks. We took the deal. We shouldn’t have taken the deal, but we were, frankly, afraid. I don’t wish to paint Baen as a villain; in fact, they threw us a much-needed lifeline, and the fact that we’ve been publishing with them since 2008 tells its own tale.
But the Fey books — written against, as you might say, the Liaden books — the reaction to those books nearly finished me as a writer. Wow, did people hate those books, and they wrote to us, and they were Betrayed, and Horrified, and one woman said she had Thrown Away all of her Liaden books and — my ghod, what a mess.
And I was still working as a secretary at the college. Not my finest hour.
But! A happy ending. Meisha Merlin returned the copyrights to all of its authors; we resold ours to Baen, who, as I mentioned above, we’ve been working with ever since.
And we never tried to establish a second series again.
Of all the scenes in all the Liaden books, the most powerful for me has always been the extended trudge along a row of fallen trees until the final, tiny wisp of a green sapling is discovered. The image is singularly vivid and has stayed with me since I first read it.
The scene conveys such a perfect balance of hope and desolation. It is a stunning piece of work and completely spellbinding.
Don’t believe what anyone tells you to the contrary. And I see you don’t.
I love the 2 “crystal” books and especially the character of Jela. Crystal Dragon is the only Liaden book that made me actually cry when the inevitable happens. I do tell people not to start the Liaden series there even though they are first in the timeline.
I didn’t hate the Fey books, but they were too dark for me to enjoy. However, I do see echoes of the Fey books in the Liaden books when talking about the Department and the horror that is compulsion.
Sharon, I love the two books of “pre-history”, i.e., the Crystal series. They provide much-needed (and appreciated) background to the Liad series. If anyone else tells you they stink, tell’em I said “You’re wrong! They’re great!”
It’s a close call for the top books from Lee and Miller but the Crystal duology is in that group (I do love Theo). Those worlds and cultures that only exist as fragments in the new universe, the courage and sneakiness of the Tree, Cantra and Jela’s unique versions of badassery. A delight. I’ve never seen the Fey books at all. Anywhere. I’m certainly willing to try them out and I’m so sorry you were hurt by the reaction. Who sends stuff like that to an author?
I am astonished they weren’t liked. I loved them and have probably reread those two more than any other.
The crystal duology is wonderful. I also enjoyed the fey books. I don’t reread them like I do the Liaden books (which are re-re-re … I’ve lost count reads), but I would read a sequel (please note, I’m not asking for a sequel, I’d still rather have more Liaden books or Carousel books-love those, too!, although from your old posts I know more Carousel books are unlikely). However, I wanted you to know you do have readers that valued them.
The Crystal books are wonderful, along with the background and new characters that are also in the current universe. Of course, Jela and Cantra could have had a full series, but I’d rather read more about Val Con, Miri, Shan, Theo, (and too many others to list)